The Halloween episode was alright. It wasn't as good as past Halloween episodes, but at least it was a huge improvement over the season premiere. The premiere felt like it was trying to cram two or three episodes of material into 22 minutes. It just felt way to hectic.

It was nice seeing two Breaking Bad cast members on NBC Thursday Night, though.

NeoCortex42:The Halloween episode was alright. It wasn't as good as past Halloween episodes, but at least it was a huge improvement over the season premiere. The premiere felt like it was trying to cram two or three episodes of material into 22 minutes. It just felt way to hectic.

It was nice seeing two Breaking Bad cast members on NBC Thursday Night, though.

NeoCortex42:The Halloween episode was alright. It wasn't as good as past Halloween episodes, but at least it was a huge improvement over the season premiere. The premiere felt like it was trying to cram two or three episodes of material into 22 minutes. It just felt way to hectic.

It was nice seeing two Breaking Bad cast members on NBC Thursday Night, though.

The first episode of the new season was ok, but it seemed to me like it was trying too hard to be an episode of Community - if that makes any sense. I felt like the remaining writers wanted to make a meta episode because the show is known for being so meta. I did appreciate the concept though. I didn't hate it, it just seemed a little bit awkward or forced.

But the Halloween episode I really liked. It was much better, more natural, than the first one. It seemed like the show just needed to get back up and running so it could hit it's stride again. After the first episode I was a little concerned, but NOW I'm looking forward to the rest of the season again.

mongbiohazard:NeoCortex42: The Halloween episode was alright. It wasn't as good as past Halloween episodes, but at least it was a huge improvement over the season premiere. The premiere felt like it was trying to cram two or three episodes of material into 22 minutes. It just felt way to hectic.

It was nice seeing two Breaking Bad cast members on NBC Thursday Night, though.

The first episode of the new season was ok, but it seemed to me like it was trying too hard to be an episode of Community - if that makes any sense. I felt like the remaining writers wanted to make a meta episode because the show is known for being so meta. I did appreciate the concept though. I didn't hate it, it just seemed a little bit awkward or forced.

But the Halloween episode I really liked. It was much better, more natural, than the first one. It seemed like the show just needed to get back up and running so it could hit it's stride again. After the first episode I was a little concerned, but NOW I'm looking forward to the rest of the season again.

Best thing about the second episode: No Chang.

Although I'm sure after the end of the first episode, he's getting his own unnecessary subplot for the season. He just hasn't been worthwhile since he stopped being Senor Chang the crazy Spanish teacher. I also think the show needs to tone down the Dean a bit.

NeoCortex42:mongbiohazard: NeoCortex42: The Halloween episode was alright. It wasn't as good as past Halloween episodes, but at least it was a huge improvement over the season premiere. The premiere felt like it was trying to cram two or three episodes of material into 22 minutes. It just felt way to hectic.

It was nice seeing two Breaking Bad cast members on NBC Thursday Night, though.

The first episode of the new season was ok, but it seemed to me like it was trying too hard to be an episode of Community - if that makes any sense. I felt like the remaining writers wanted to make a meta episode because the show is known for being so meta. I did appreciate the concept though. I didn't hate it, it just seemed a little bit awkward or forced.

But the Halloween episode I really liked. It was much better, more natural, than the first one. It seemed like the show just needed to get back up and running so it could hit it's stride again. After the first episode I was a little concerned, but NOW I'm looking forward to the rest of the season again.

Best thing about the second episode: No Chang.

Although I'm sure after the end of the first episode, he's getting his own unnecessary subplot for the season. He just hasn't been worthwhile since he stopped being Senor Chang the crazy Spanish teacher. I also think the show needs to tone down the Dean a bit.

Oh hell yeah, I thought Chang was much funnier when he was a legitimate Spanish teacher. Just being a psycho has had its moments here and there, but you expect a psycho to be psycho. Adding the layer of legitimacy of him being an actual authority figure makes the character work better, IMHO. The bit with him forcing Troy and Pierce to escort him to that dance in "elegant ladies pantsuits" was farking hilarious to me.

mongbiohazard:Oh hell yeah, I thought Chang was much funnier when he was a legitimate Spanish teacher. Just being a psycho has had its moments here and there, but you expect a psycho to be psycho. Adding the layer of legitimacy of him being an actual authority figure makes the character work better, IMHO. The bit with him forcing Troy and Pierce to escort him to that dance in "elegant ladies pantsuits" was farking hilarious to me.

Yep. We've all had freaking crazy teachers like that too*. They really should've kept him as just teacher for another year.

* I had one who printed his own money... there was some purpose to us collecting it but not really... and also took Polaroids of anyone sleeping or goofing of in class so he would have photo documentation when parents came to biatch that their kid failed. He wasn't completely crazy, but he was flirting with going over the edge a bit too much

I didn't get the season 4 opener where Abed's fantasy featured the cast members playing their usual characters, except a different actor played Pierce. I began to wonder if maybe Chase had walked out midway thru shooting that episode, or if the producers were firing some kind of warning shot that he could be replaced.

Honestly, this is why I don't watch it. I don't find out-of-context references to something I find familiar to be funny. Community is always totally ham-fisted with their Internet cultural references. If you want to see a show do it right, watch The Venture Bros.

jjorsett:I didn't get the season 4 opener where Abed's fantasy featured the cast members playing their usual characters, except a different actor played Pierce. I began to wonder if maybe Chase had walked out midway thru shooting that episode, or if the producers were firing some kind of warning shot that he could be replaced.

It was his happy place where he saw his world as a perfect sitcom. Even Abed doesn't like Pierce, so he replaced the character with a more friendly person.

Honestly, this is why I don't watch it. I don't find out-of-context references to something I find familiar to be funny. Community is always totally ham-fisted with their Internet cultural references. If you want to see a show do it right, watch The Venture Bros.

Very true but I think the long hiatus has soured the show for me. The Halloween special was ok at best. Family Guy was the same when it got canceled and returned. I was looking forward to it and didn't enjoy the new ones as much

mongbiohazard:Adding the layer of legitimacy of Chang being an actual authority figure makes the character work better, IMHO.

This * 4. First 1.5 seasons are both funny and clever. Somewhere in Season 2 Harmon & whoever has creative control are paying more attention to clever and forgetting about the jokes. This just happens to coincide with way too much of the Dean and Chang, who are great in small doses.

Just got finished watching AD&D again - man that episode is so good. What the hell happened. I had to stop halfway through the first episode this season.

The halloween episode was "fine" in that it didn't feel rushed and forced. But it was also pretty bland. I wonder if they'll be able to pull off another Remedial Chaos Theory or any other "big concept" episode again since they obviously can't do anything ambitious without making it seem hammed -- even Britta's costume can't save that.

I don't know if it was Harmon or just senioritus but the episodes just aren't saying their g's.

Champion of the Sun:jjorsett: I didn't get the season 4 opener where Abed's fantasy featured the cast members playing their usual characters, except a different actor played Pierce. I began to wonder if maybe Chase had walked out midway thru shooting that episode, or if the producers were firing some kind of warning shot that he could be replaced.

It was his happy place where he saw his world as a perfect sitcom. Even Abed doesn't like Pierce, so he replaced the character with a more friendly person.

StreetlightInTheGhetto:nerftaig: This idea of what "the internet loves" lets give them sort of pandering is exactly how I feel this season of community was made.

This cynical exploitative (not in a good way) attempt to keep the show going feels so false to me.

Show is a disaster this season. It's something I want to look away from, but cant bring myself to.

Yes. Two episodes = disaster. Jesus effing Christ.

I'm not a big fan of 3 - only one I never bothered to pre-order the DVD - but it has grown on me considerably.

Do you really think the quality of the show will improve? These first 2 episodes were the worst shot and worst edited of the series by large margin. Leaving all the writing out of it and whether I think it was funny (it wasn't) I think that is a design change that is representative of the season.

imgod2u:The halloween episode was "fine" in that it didn't feel rushed and forced. But it was also pretty bland. I wonder if they'll be able to pull off another Remedial Chaos Theory or any other "big concept" episode again since they obviously can't do anything ambitious without making it seem hammed -- even Britta's costume can't save that.

I don't know if it was Harmon or just senioritus but the episodes just aren't saying their g's.

Bland is exactly how I would describe the last episode. By about half way through I was thinking, "Okay, get this over with so I can watch Parks and Rec next", which happened to be really good this week.

This show didn't start to die in season 4. The show blew the last of its goodwill with Pillows and Blankets last season, where it spent 22 minutes satirizing boring documentaries by charmlessly imitating one. That was probably the least funny thing I've ever seen. Add on top of that the neverending barrage of hokey theme/reference episodes and you realize that this show has spent so much time trying to be clever that it's completely abandoned trying to actually characterize the characters and instead just uses them as a loose collection of ciphers that it can plug into genre parody.

The show is a disaster this season? Get real, it's been a disaster for a while.

shut_it_down:This show didn't start to die in season 4. The show blew the last of its goodwill with Pillows and Blankets last season, where it spent 22 minutes satirizing boring documentaries by charmlessly imitating one. That was probably the least funny thing I've ever seen. Add on top of that the neverending barrage of hokey theme/reference episodes and you realize that this show has spent so much time trying to be clever that it's completely abandoned trying to actually characterize the characters and instead just uses them as a loose collection of ciphers that it can plug into genre parody.

The show is a disaster this season? Get real, it's been a disaster for a while.

Not sure if trolling or not, hard to tell anymore. But, this show by its nature is gonna have a bunch of really bad episodes. They swing for the fences with a lot of out there premises. They're gonna strike out sometimes. As bad as that documentary episode was, the L&O episode was great, same kind of gag. And I don't even like L&O, but enjoyed the spoof.

shut_it_down:he show blew the last of its goodwill with Pillows and Blankets last season, where it spent 22 minutes satirizing boring documentaries by charmlessly imitating one.

Thats pretty damn funny that you mention that, because last year before Harmon was announced to leave that was considered the fan favorite of that season.

I can understand not liking the first episode this season, but this week's was a standard community episode and enjoyable. I wish they explored the dungeon crawler theme a little more but that's a wish and not a criticism.

thecpt:shut_it_down: he show blew the last of its goodwill with Pillows and Blankets last season, where it spent 22 minutes satirizing boring documentaries by charmlessly imitating one.

Thats pretty damn funny that you mention that, because last year before Harmon was announced to leave that was considered the fan favorite of that season.

I can understand not liking the first episode this season, but this week's was a standard community episode and enjoyable. I wish they explored the dungeon crawler theme a little more but that's a wish and not a criticism.

If that episode was the fan favorite, then the fans are getting exactly what they deserve now. They bemoan the new season when they're the ones that were singing the praises of references in lieu of comedy and clumsy grabs at sentimentality. I used to be a staunch supporter of the show but it's uneven at best now. When the show plays with format as a way of exploring the characters, it's amazing. (Chaos Theory, Dungeons and Dragons). When the genre overrides everything about them, it's nigh unwatchable (Pillows and Blankets, L&O).

shut_it_down:If that episode was the fan favorite, then the fans are getting exactly what they deserve now. They bemoan the new season when they're the ones that were singing the praises of references in lieu of comedy and clumsy grabs at sentimentality. I used to be a staunch supporter of the show but it's uneven at best now. When the show plays with format as a way of exploring the characters, it's amazing. (Chaos Theory, Dungeons and Dragons). When the genre overrides everything about them, it's nigh unwatchable (Pillows and Blankets, L&O).

The low point was the Glee episode. Not only was it empty and completely devoid of any genuine emotion ("Hey, the teacher was a mass murderer who was planning to kill the entire study group, lol!"), but it wasn't even very good in the sense of being a parody or a satire. At least P&B and L&O was willing to play things straight and put some thought into it. The Glee episode was just lazy, like watching something from the "Scary Movie" Franchise. The fact that no one seems to care that a mass murderer ran away is just really off putting.

I really have no idea why so many people liked the Glee episode, but I suspect that they might have been biased since it was the last episode before hiatus, so they wanted to convince themselves that the show was leaving on a high note.

so you just don't like it when it does parodies? I enjoyed P&B for what it was, making fun of ken burns effect and throwing all of its tools at a genre. The last scene with Jeff going back for the pretend things gave me a b'awwww moment too. Chaos theory is the best episode (for any tv series that year even), but if as you said the show isn't good any more and its a full year later then you can just give it up.